Freaky! My Glass Shower door Shattered in the middle of the night

Sleeping soundly we were awoken @ 3:30 a.m. by a strange crash coming from inside the house. Looking around did not see anything until I turned on the light in the master bathroom and saw that one of the shower doors shattered into a thousand pieces (tempered glass)

For the last few months there were popping sounds coming from the bathroom and I didn't think too much about it thought expansion or whatever.

i stepped on a sliver of glass and it seems to be still in my skin - can't find it or feel it. the mess of glass mostly is in the shower stall (no tub-had it taken out and put a walk in shower last year) it's gonna be a bitch to clean up but i'm just glad it didn't happen when i was taking a shower!!

the door seemed to just explode in the middle of the night.

i called the manufacturer and they are sending a whole replacement set and advised me to take out the in tact door in case that one breaks too. it is still making noises in there-the glass/door.

i was freaked out and couldn't sleep after that except drifting in and out thinking about what to do.

i have never experienced something so strange. i don;t know if the glass was defective or the installation was a factor.

i'm glad i am getting replacements at no charge that was an unexpected surprise.

it's been warm here -- @ 3:30 am it was not freezing not a big temp drop from the day.

Probably faulty manufacture. Streess is induced at the suspension points and can start to develop hairline cracks. When one of these cracks reaches a tempering stress cell (the samll pieces of crumb glass you get left with all over the floor) it will propagate explosively through the whole sheet.

Boom and doom in one go.

I've had this happen on tempered glass in a greenhouse roof. (glazing strips were overtightened). Makes a hell of a mess

tempered glass is easily broken when the edges of the glass are damaged or chipped. Most likely the there is was something in the door frame that hit the edge of the glass or slowly chipped away at it over time and caused it to explode.

do you have a cold draft and alternation of heat and cold over time that can travel down a vent ? it probably had fissures in it that are like how a windshield to a car has cracks that grew over time and a verity of situations could stimulate it to crack.

id go with thick plastic if you are a snowy place with bad insulation.

or get the wall insulated around the shower and have someone do a vent inspection.

could also be that the rollers caused the crack so if you can prove they and you have a guaranty you may be able to replace them if they are the cause of the cracks.

That's why having sex in a stand up shower all the time isn't recommended. Often times couples bump into the glass and in time, weaken it. Hope you learned your lesson ;)

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 837852

Only if she has big weapons of mass distraction.

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its own victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than omnipotent moral busy-bodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." -- C.S. Lewis

do you have a cold draft and alternation of heat and cold over time that can travel down a vent ? it probably had fissures in it that are like how a windshield to a car has cracks that grew over time and a verity of situations could stimulate it to crack.

id go with thick plastic if you are a snowy place with bad insulation.

or get the wall insulated around the shower and have someone do a vent inspection.

could also be that the rollers caused the crack so if you can prove they and you have a guaranty you may be able to replace them if they are the cause of the cracks.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1197242

i am getting a full replacement

the bathroom is in the rear of the house when they redid the tile surround they put in new thicker insulation the wall is an exterior wall with a window in the shower.